Fire-escape.



J. LUGKETT. FIRE ESGAPR APPLICATION P'ILBD APR. 14, 1909.

Patented Max:215, 1910.

James la cle zz.

UNITE dTATd JAMES LUCKETT, F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 15, 1910.

Application filed April 14, 1909. Serial No. 489,776.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES LUCKETT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brooklyn, county of Kings, State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Escapes, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to improvements in fire escapes and particularly isan improvement upon my fire escape made the subjectmatter of myapplication, Serial No. 463,315, filed November 20th, 1908.

The object of the present invention is to provide simple and eifectivemechanism whereby the user of the fire escape may, in

his or her descent, control the speed, or stop at any and all times.

In the drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my invention in theposition that it appears in use. Fig. 2 is a relatively enlarged view ofcertain parts viewed from the right hand end. Fig. 3 is an end view of adetail.

1 represents a rope, down which my lire escape slides or travels.

It will be unnecessary for me to describe at length the particularconstruction of the traveling element since that is fully described inmy former application.

2 is the main body of the traveler, having at opposite ends and onopposite sides the clutch members 3-8 I l is a bracket which carries theweight of the user. This bracket is connected with the traveler 2 andcarries a rod 1, upon which slides a pulley When the apparatus is inuse, the traveler is tilted by the weight of the user suspended I fromthe pulley 5, so that it assumes substantially the position shown inFig. 1, putting thereby a double bight in the rope 1 so that the drag ofthe rope over the clutches 3-1 9 will cause the same to press more orless tightly against that part of the rope within the traveler. Thisolfers that degree of friction, under normal circumstances, necessary toresist too speedy a descent. The angle of inclination of the travelerdepends upon the weight of the user. In the case of a light personmaking the descent, the pulley 5 will remain toward the right hand endof the rod et (as viewed in Fig. 1), while with a heavier person, therod 4! will be inclined down at more of an angle so that the pulley willtravel to the left against the action of a spring 6. As the pulleytravels to the left, the traveler 2 will be tilted to a greater degree,increasing the frictional drag upon the rope 1.

Thus far I have described generally only that which is disclosed andclaimed in my former application. referred to.

The present invention comprises a safety brake which, in the preferredform, cooper ates with one of the clutches 33. In the drawings I haveshown this brake applied to the clutch 3 The brake comprises a lever 7pivoted at 8, having a shoulder 9 arranged to bear against the ropeclutching end of the clutch v 7 10 is a fixed pulley on the bracket l.

11 is a suitable connector, such as a chain leading from the end of thebrake lever 7 over pulley 10 to a handle 12, located at a convenientplace accessible to the user. Should there be any occasion to retard orcheck the descent, the user has merely to pull down upon the handle 12,whereupon the clutch may be pressed against the rope 1 with that degreeof pressure necessary to retard, or to check, the movement of thetraveler upon the rope.

If desired, the sliding pulley 5 may also be attached to the lever 7 asby connector 14:, so that there will be an automatic cooperation betweenthe pulley and brake lever 7, whereby the latter will be operated to adegree dependent upon the weight of the user upon the apparatus.

The chain 11 may be connected to the lever 7 by a pin 11 while one ortwo chains 14C may be employed, the latter being connected to the lever'7 by side projecting pins l414 The opposite ends of said chains 14. maybe connected by pins El -14 to the pulley 5.

hat I claim is:

1. In a fire escape of the character described, a traveler elementarranged to slide upon a rope and including a body portion having a ropepassage, means for suspending a weight from said body portion to causethe latter to tilt out of the vertical position when in use to put abight. in said rope, a clutch carried by the body portion adjacent tosaid bight, and tension actuated by said rope and manually operablemeans arranged to coact with said clutch during the period of descent tovary the action of said clutch independently of the tension on the rope.

2. In a fire escape, a traveling element ar applied thereto saidtraveler Will be tilted I at an angle to form a bight in the ropeadjacent the bearing of said clutch and a manually operable brake devicecoacting with said clutch for operating the latter to 15 vary thebraking friction independently of the tension on the rope.

JAMES LUGKETT.

lVitnesses R. C. MITUHELL, CHAs. A. PEARD.

